The Israel-Jordan borderlands in the Arava Valley: differential development and prospects for co-operation

Abstract

The area of study extends from south of the Dead Sea to the shores of the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat. The Arava Valley is divided between Jordan and Israel, having a desert environment marked by high temperatures and low precipitation. The boundary was disputed from 1948 until the Jordanian-Israeli Peace Treaty on the 26th of October 1994. This border situation led to different settlement patterns on either side: the Israeli side was settled with Kibbutzim and Moshavim to secure the borders, whereas the Jordanian side stayed largely untouched because of the extreme conditions. Jordan and Israel share a common hydrogeological system in the Arava Valley, which has not as yet been fully investigated. This will only be possible through transboundary co-operation. Further areas of co-operation include agriculture, infrastructure, industry and tourism. Projects for co-operation in these areas were discussed between the two countries at the Casablanca Summit in October 1994. Each chapter of this thesis analyses the differences and commonalities between the two borderlands in the activities mentioned above, and assesses the prospects for future co-operation. The conclusion compares possibilities for co-operation in the Arava Valley with other selected borderlands in the world where transboundary co-operation already exists. Most cases seem to show that one party is likely to benefit more than the other, at least in the short-term.